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50 Years Since Apollo 11 Landed

skinny

skinny

Nigh
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May 30, 2010
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This thread is meant as a celebration of the crowning achievement of our species to date as we approach the 50th anniversary of 11's initial success. I hope it will serve as a memorial to those crews who made the great Leap over those magical 4 years from 69 - 72. Those men deserve to be honoured even today. Lest we forget.

I was born January 71, so my memories of these events are slightly hazy. But I daresay there will be several of my senior co-members who have vivid recall of the day we stepped onto another stellar sphere for the first time, what it meant at the time both personally and socially, and how it felt to witness it all.

I'm also interested in your views on how the legacy of those events have evolved in the intervening half century, and indeed if you think, as I do, that that legacy is as relevant, if not more, to our pioneering endeavours today.
a01_11446548.jpg

Image source url; http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/apollo_07_15/a01_11446548.jpg
 
I remember watching the moon landing with my grandfather and he was amazed. He told me that when he was my age, he heard stories about the Wright Brother's first powered flight and now, in his lifetime he was watching men walking on the moon.
 
I remember watching the Apollo 11 landing on live TV, and it still amazes me-- LIVE TV from the MOON!

It could have been one of the defining moments of human history, the first step to our becoming a space-faring species. There's a stained glass window in the National Cathedral in DC with fragments of moon rock embedded in it; to me, that speaks of the epic, almost mystical, nature of the achievement. Sadly, though, it turned out to be a one-off stunt, done mostly to twit the Russians. We couldn't send men to the moon today if our very survival depended on it.

Certainly, there were long-term benefits. Our high-tech computer and digital communication industries owe their existence to the early space program. Robotic missions to other planets have progressed well, building on past successes, but those programs have often had to overcome resistance from NASA. NASA management has been fixated on manned space exploration but has lacked any coherent long-term vision. The Space Shuttle program, for example, was an ill-conceived boondoggle, a program with no defined purpose, its economics based on completely fallacious assumptions. The main point of the Shuttle program may have been a jobs program for the Apollo engineers and technicians.

Momentum in space exploration seems to be building again, driven by private investment this time. We may be on our way again, but it's sad to see how much time and opportunity has been squandered.
 
Frasier Buddolph said:
I remember watching the Apollo 11 landing on live TV, and it still amazes me-- LIVE TV from the MOON!

It could have been one of the defining moments of human history, the first step to our becoming a space-faring species. There's a stained glass window in the National Cathedral in DC with fragments of moon rock embedded in it; to me, that speaks of the epic, almost mystical, nature of the achievement. Sadly, though, it turned out to be a one-off stunt, done mostly to twit the Russians. We couldn't send men to the moon today if our very survival depended on it.

Certainly, there were long-term benefits. Our high-tech computer and digital communication industries owe their existence to the early space program. Robotic missions to other planets have progressed well, building on past successes, but those programs have often had to overcome resistance from NASA. NASA management has been fixated on manned space exploration but has lacked any coherent long-term vision. The Space Shuttle program, for example, was an ill-conceived boondoggle, a program with no defined purpose, its economics based on completely fallacious assumptions. The main point of the Shuttle program may have been a jobs program for the Apollo engineers and technicians.

Momentum in space exploration seems to be building again, driven by private investment this time. We may be on our way again, but it's sad to see how much time and opportunity has been squandered.
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Yes, I was disappointed too. I saw the moon landings as a child and was hugely inspired, but then they let us down by making it all about money and politics.
We could have been routinely flying to the planets by now.
 
I remember seeing it.
My parents sat us down to watch, because it was an important event.

I was 5. I couldn't make out what the hell was happening. Fuzzy images, crackly voices. A year later I got my first pair of glasses, so I probably really couldn't see what was happening.

I remember being terribly confused about it all, but I'm glad they made me watch. I'd be very dissappointed now if I'd had the opportunity and missed it.
 
Frasier Buddolph said:
Momentum in space exploration seems to be building again, driven by private investment this time. We may be on our way again, but it's sad to see how much time and opportunity has been squandered.
Click to expand...
Thanks FB. The momentum may be strongly prompted from far east of Greenwich this time. Peak West saw the first voyages realised. It seems likely pre-peak East shall carry the fire further. If the will exists, I think the Orient will see it done.

I've irregularly tried to find visual representation of the number and positions of the various probes and robots aloft in the system, labelled as to their nation or conglomerate of origin. I suspect there'd be a majority of Chinese, Indian and Japanese hardware out there by now. Keen to check my guess if one of you netsleuths can locate a site or video with an answer. It'd be even more interesting to track the buildup over time since Sputnik.
 
I was young, very young, but I do remember the blurred black and white images and am pleased to be able to say I was there to see it happening.
Whilst mankind has done many great things, discovered countless miraculous benefits that make our lives comfortable, longer and easier, I do think that this is our greatest achievement.
I occasionally still look up at the moon and wonder what it must have been like to walk upon it. Every time I fly I imagine what it would have been like to go higher and higher and then to leave the atmosphere. Given the opportunity, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
One of my prized possession is a tiny speck of gold kapton foil which provided the thermal protection for the astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 Command Module. It's sits proudly on my desk as I type this.
 
Bigphoot2 said:
A thing that struck me about the moon landing was when I heard people talking about it. I don't recall hearing anyone say "The American's have landed on the Moon." It always seemed to be "We've landed on the Moon."
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Absolutely. I think it was an occasion so monumental that it transcended nationality. No doubt behind closed doors even the Russians had a sly, envious grin on their faces whilst thinking to themselves, ''the bastards really did it!''
 
Bigphoot2 said:
A thing that struck me about the moon landing was when I heard people talking about it. I don't recall hearing anyone say "The American's have landed on the Moon." It always seemed to be "We've landed on the Moon."
Click to expand...

Mr Armstrong didn't say it was "One giant leap for AMURRICA!!! USA!!! U! S! A!" Maybe he would these days.
 
GNC said:
Mr Armstrong didn't say it was "One giant leap for AMURRICA!!! USA!!! U! S! A!" Maybe he would these days.
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These days it would be "We came in search of profit er peace for e-bay/Amazon/Google etc"
 
Morning, remember seeing Apollo 11 taking off but fell asleep through the moon landing. Went to Kennedy Space Centre years ago and when on a tour around the space centre and was impressed with the control room.
 
Lord Lucan said:
I was young, very young, but I do remember the blurred black and white images and am pleased to be able to say I was there to see it happening.
Whilst mankind has done many great things, discovered countless miraculous benefits that make our lives comfortable, longer and easier, I do think that this is our greatest achievement.
I occasionally still look up at the moon and wonder what it must have been like to walk upon it. Every time I fly I imagine what it would have been like to go higher and higher and then to leave the atmosphere. Given the opportunity, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
One of my prized possession is a tiny speck of gold kapton foil which provided the thermal protection for the astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 Command Module. It's sits proudly on my desk as I type this.
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Great response.
 
Margaret Hamilton: the woman who wrote the software that put man on the Moon

We speak to Margaret Hamilton, the pioneering software engineer whose work not only helped Neil Armstrong make his giant leap, but also changed the world of computing

margaret-hamilton-standing-next-to-a-stack-of-punched-card-print-outs-of-the-in-flight-softwar...jpg

Margaret Hamilton photographed in 1969, standing next to a stack of code print-outs for Apollo in-flight software
‘Because of the never-ending focus on making everything as perfect as possible, anything to do with the prevention of errors was not only not off the table, it was top priority both during development and during real time. Not only did it have to be ultra-reliable, it would need to have the flexibility to detect anything unexpected and recover from it in real time.’
Click to expand...
https://www.christies.com/features/....aspx?sc_lang=en&cid=EM_EMLcontent04144A84A_0
 
skinny said:
This thread is meant as a celebration of the crowning achievement of our species to date as we approach the 50th anniversary of 11's initial success. I hope it will serve as a memorial to those crews who made the great Leap over those magical 4 years from 69 - 72. Those men deserve to be honoured even today. Lest we forget.

I was born January 71, so my memories of these events are slightly hazy. But I daresay there will be several of my senior co-members who have vivid recall of the day we stepped onto another stellar sphere for the first time, what it meant at the time both personally and socially, and how it felt to witness it all.

I'm also interested in your views on how the legacy of those events have evolved in the intervening half century, and indeed if you think, as I do, that that legacy is as relevant, if not more, to our pioneering endeavours today.
a01_11446548.jpg

Image source url; http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/apollo_07_15/a01_11446548.jpg
Click to expand...
I reckon if we ever go back to the moon someone will find a stone tablet carved with runic symbols that clearly shows the Vikings got there first.
 
People are setting off some fireworks here. Must be nerds celebrating.
 
DrPaulLee said:
The closing html "a" tag??
Click to expand...
It’s customary on this forum to indicate what people will see when they click through otherwise there are plenty of people who won’t click so a sentence or two to say what people will see when they click through will be helpful.
 
I didn't have a clue what you meant before, Gordon but I do now.

Slashdot is a website that runs news articles with a science and technology leaning. That link is about the software used for the moon landing.
 
DrPaulLee said:
I didn't have a clue what you meant before, Gordon but I do now.

Slashdot is a website that runs news articles with a science and technology leaning. That link is about the software used for the moon landing.
Click to expand...
Thanks.
 
Mythopoeika said:
It's a bit 'numerical'. Aaargh.
Click to expand...
But did you land it for chrisakes? !!!!!!

.. all you had to do was:

  1. Press Enable IMU button.
  2. Wait 85-90 seconds until NO ATT light turns off.
  3. Enter V37E01E to initiate major mode 01 (Prelaunch or Service Initialization). PROG should read 01, if not try again in few seconds.
  4. Wait until IMU is calibrated (pitch 90°).
  5. Major mode 02 (Prelaunch or Service Gyrocompassing) will automatically start in few seconds (PROG shows 02).
  6. Press Launch button.
  7. MET (Mission Elapsed Time) clock starts running.
  8. Major mode 11 (Earth Orbit Insertion Monitor) will start after the detection of the launch event.

    1. DSKY updates every two seconds with the latest state-vector data:
    2. R1 = velocity (XXXXX ft/s).
  • R2 = the altitude rate (XXXXX ft/s).
  • R3 = the altitude above the pad (XXXX.X nmi).

  1. The powered flight lasts 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Both roll and pitch programs are executed.

    1. You may monitor the orbit parameters at any time after the launch by entering V82E:
    2. R1 = the apocenter altitude (XXXX.X nmi).
  • R2 = the pericenter altitude (XXXX.X nmi).
  • R3 = the time to free fall (XX XX min:sec).

  1. After a successful launch, both the apocenter and pericenter altitudes should be >90 nmi.
  2. Press PRO to return to major mode 11 display.

    1. Enter V06N32E to display time from perigee:
    2. R1 = 00XXX. hours
    • R2 = 000XX. minutes
    • R3 = 0XX.XX seconds
  • It's not rocket science ..
 
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